Suit Dropped

Developer Agrees To Changes

April 29, 1986|By Neil Santaniello, Staff Writer

In an unusual out-of-court settlement with a homeowners` association, a developer agreed to make architectural changes to townhouses being built in the Villas of Boca Barwood subdivision west of Boca Raton to make them aesthetically compatible to other homes there.

``We`ll be somewhat happy with it, if everything is carried out according to what was (agreed upon),`` Bernard Miller, president of the Villas of Boca Barwood Homeowners Association, said Monday of the settlement reached last Thursday between the association and developer William Kraut.

The dispute would have ended up in court the day after both parties met -- Friday -- had they not hammered out an agreement, said Spencer Sax, attorney for the association.

``We were satisfied with the changes,`` Sax said. ``We got all the stuff we really wanted.``

Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge John Wessel ordered the meeting between both parties after agreeing with the association that homeowners` covenants had been violated by Kraut.

The convenants stipulate that new two- and three-bedroom homes, each with a one-car garage, going up in the community must be compatible with the 127 homes built four years ago during construction of the first phase of Boca Barwood. Homeowners said the new townhouses were inferior and would cheapen property values in their neighborhood considerably.

The older homes are valued from $70,000 to $96,000.

After viewing the more than 70 homes going up, the judge issued a temporary injunction halting exterior work on them and scheduled a hearing on the matter. However, Kraut`s willingness to make design concessions kept it out of court.

During the four-hour meeting, the developer agreed to make several architectural alterations on completed townhouses and redesign those not yet constructed, Sax said. Revised blueprints for new homes would also be subject to approval of an architectural consultant designated by the association, he said.

The changes agreed to in the four-hour meeting presided over by an arbitrator appointed by Wessel included altering the level of roof lines, adding brick trim to windows, increasing landscaped areas and other aesthetic touch-up work.

The improvements did not entail major structural changes, Sax said.

``If (Kraut) lives up to what he`s agreed to, everything will be fine,`` Miller said. ``If not, we`ll be back in court.``

``We`ll be watching him,`` he said.

Kraut, whose firm Barwood Pointe Inc. took over ownership of the subdivision from Keystone Development a year ago, could not be reached for comment.